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I Am the Light of the World


John 8:12-30
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father [1] who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
When we come to the end of this text of John 8:12–30, we see the response of many of the people in verse 30: "As he was saying these things, many believed in him." This is good news. Because Jesus had said in verse 24, "Unless you believe that I am he [literally, that I am] you will die in your sins." So here we have a picture of people passing from death to life. They will not die in their sins. They will be forgiven. Their sins will not be held against them. And when they die, they will go where Jesus has gone—to the Father—unlike the unrepentant, as Jesus says in verse 21, "Where I am going you cannot come." And so these believers will live in everlasting light and joy.
That is why Jesus came into the world. That is why he spoke these words in our text. And that is why I am preaching this message. I want the same thing to happen for you that happened for the people in verse 30—"As he was saying these things, many believed in him." Notice, it was Jesus' words that God used to bring about the faith. He wasn't doing miracles at this point. He was speaking. In fact, he was going back and forth with the Pharisees and the crowd—those who were blind to what he was saying. And as people listened to his words, they believed. Faith comes by hearing—the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).
That can happen here. You may start to hear this message as an unbeliever. And you may come to the end of this message as a believer. It happened for them. It can happen for you. So I am going to try to let Jesus speak by walking with him through this text pretty much in the order that it comes.

A Detour That's Not a Detour

But it might be helpful to say something about the overarching point of the passage. The passage begins in verse 12 with Jesus saying, "I am the light of the world." "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" And surprisingly he never mentions light again in this whole chapter. It's as though he goes off onto a detour because of an objection they raise.
But we have seen before (for example, John 4:16–21) that when Jesus lets someone take him on a detour, he handles the detour in a way that really illumines the starting point and the destination. So it turns out not to be a detour after all.

The Focus: Jesus' Relationship with the Father

The dominant focus in the apparent detour in verses 13–29—the detour away from "I am the light of the world"—is that the testimony and the judgments of Jesus are true because of his relationship with God the Father. At least seven times in this passage, Jesus points to the fact that he is from the Father, and speaks on the authority of the Father, and is going to the Father, and does nothing on his own. He claims, in other words, that his authority is not owing to any human origin. It's owing to his relationship with God the Father.
Imagine the greatest human authority you can, and he is saying: I don't pretend to have that. What I claim is that I speak from God and for God and as God. I don't testify to any autonomous human greatness. What I claim—in and under all I say and do—is that "I am." I am one with God, the great "I am" (Exodus 3:14). Verse 24: "Unless you believe that I am [the he is added in our English translation] you will die in your sins." Verse 28: "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [again, the he is added]."

The Big Picture of This Text

And the reason I say this emphasis on Jesus' relationship with the Father is not really a detour from verse 12—"I am the light of the world"—is that the way Jesus is the light of the world is precisely by being one with the Father. Jesus is the light of the world because he comes from the Father and speaks for the Father and is going to the Father and is one with the Father. So these words of interaction with the Jews look like a detour from "I am the light of the world," but in fact they are constantly pointing to the way he is the light of the world—by coming from the Father and going to the Father and being one with the Father.
That's the big picture of the text—that is what Jesus wants us to see and believe and treasure from these words. May the Lord do that for you as we listen to him.

A Life-Changing Verse

So let's begin with the claim in verse 12: "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"
This is a life-changing verse if you see it for what it is—see him for who he is. It says that following Jesus is more than tagging along behind him. It means following him for who he is. Being so taken with him that you join yourself to him.

When We Follow Him, We Have Him

And notice that when you follow him you have him—you have him as the light of life. "I am the light . . . Whoever follows me . . . will have the light . . ." You will have me, he says, as your light. If you follow me, you have me. I am yours. I am your Shepherd and your Sacrifice and your Living Water and your Bread from Heaven and your God, and your Light.

Notice the last phrase of verse 12: "You will have the light of life." What is the connection between light and life? John 1:4 gives the answer: "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." The life gives the light. The life Jesus has, and the life he shares with those who follow him, gives them light. That is, we are dead and blind to the light until the life of Jesus is imparted to us by God's Spirit, and then we see. The eyes of our hearts are opened, and divine light streams into our living spirits. And thus we have the light of life. The light that comes from new, spiritual, eye-opening life—the life that gives sight to the blind soul, eternal life giving eternal sight.

The Light of the World

And what about the phrase "light of the world"? Verse 12: "Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world.'" What does "of the world" mean? The whole world is not being lightened—at least not yet. In fact, he says, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness." Which means that if we don't follow him, we do walk in darkness. And where is that darkness? It is in the world and in our hearts. So being "the light of the world" doesn't mean removing all darkness from the world as he walks through the world.
Here's what I think it means:
  1. Jesus' being "the light of the world" means the world has no other light than him. If there is going to be a light for the world, it will be Jesus. It is Jesus or darkness. There is no third alternative. No other light.
  2. It means, therefore, that all the world, and everyone in it needs, Jesus as their light.
  3. It means that the world was made for this light. This is not a foreign light. This is the light of the owner of the world. When this light comes, it not only makes sin plain as foreign and ugly, but it also makes everything good in the world shine with its full and true beauty. This world was made to be illumined by this light. This light of Christ is native to the world.
  4. And finally Jesus being "the light of the world" means that that one day this world will be filled with this light as the waters cover the sea, and all darkness, and all the works of darkness, and all the sons of darkness will be cast out. That's why Jesus called hell "outer darkness" (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). In that day, all will be light. Jesus, the radiance of the Father, will fill the world, and everything will be beautiful with the light of Christ.

Light for Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Suffering, and Death


In these glorious ways, Jesus is the light of the world. If you follow him now, you will have him as your light in advance of that great day. True, he will reveal your sins. Which is a precious gift—like the fortunate early diagnosis of a deadly cancer. But even more, he will reveal all that is beautiful. He will be the light in which you see God—the light in which you see the history of redemption and the work of salvation.

He will be the light in which you see mountains and valleys and oceans and rivers and trees and animals and people. Nothing will be the same again when you have him as your light. Everything looks different in the light of Christ. Yes, even earthquakes and tsunamis and suffering and death. Until his light fills the earth as the waters cover the sea—until it and banishes sin and sickness and pain and earthquakes to the outer darkness—until then, even now, his light will help you bear the sorrows of darkness. It will be a soft glow to comfort you in your lonely room after the devastating loss. It will be a lamp on your troubled path. It will reveal the wise and loving face of God behind every frowning providence.

Jesus' Offer of Light to All

And so I say with Jesus in John 12:36, "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." When you believe in Jesus as your precious light, when you follow him as your truth and your wisdom and your way and your beauty, you have his life, you are "a son of light." You are begotten into the family of light. And this light will never go out. In the moment of death, when the world thinks "all the lights go out," for you it will be the light of heaven.
So that's where Jesus starts in verse 12. He offers them and us all of that. And what an offer it is! I pray you take it.

Then Comes the Detour

But now begins this seeming detour. Verse 13: "So the Pharisees said to him, 'You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.'" Where did this come from? It came from John 5:31 where Jesus said, taking his words very strictly, "If I bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true." The Pharisees pick up on this strict wording of what he said, and say, "See you are contradicting yourself and so your testimony is false, because you are bearing witness about yourself. You just said, 'I am the light of the world.'"
This response of the Pharisees ("You are bearing witness about yourself") sets up everything that happens in the next 17 verses of our text. The detour is defined by these words. And Jesus is willing to go on this detour. And he uses it to focus all attention on his relationship to the Father. Because that relationship is the key to seeing him as the light of the world, so that this turns out not to be a detour in the end.

Caught in a Contradiction?

Have they caught Jesus in a contradiction? He really did say in John 5:31, "If I bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true." (The English versions that add the word "alone" in verse 31—"If I alone bear witness about myself"—are interpreting, not translating.) But what did he mean in the context? He meant: If my testimony comes from myself, if it originates with me, if I am a witness to myself disconnected from the Father, I am false.
But the Pharisees didn't hear it in context. They heard it in isolation, and now they use it to divert attention from the tragic fact that when Jesus says, "I am the light of the world," they see no light.

A Picture of What's Happening

Here is a picture of what's happening. It is as though you heard me yesterday in a conversation with a British friend say, "I don't use the word torch." And then today I find you lost in a totally dark and dangerous tunnel. And I bring you a bright, burning torch that can show you the way out. And I say, "I have a torch for you. There's the way. Follow it to freedom." And you look right past the torch and say, "I heard you say yesterday that you don't use the word torch. So your testimony that you have a torch is false."
What should I say in response to that? I could explain to you, "In Britain they call flashlights torches. I was saying yesterday that I don't use the word torch that way. You didn't understand the context. Here's a torch. Take it. Get out of here while you can." But if you are like the Pharisees, you would answer, "There's no torch here. You contradicted yourself."

Seeing, They Did Not See

Now you should respond to this illustration by saying: "That's absurd. The torch was right there in front of me. And I needed it to get out." That's right. And Jesus, the light of the world—the divine, self-authenticating light of the world—was right there in front of them. And they said, "You contradicted yourself. There's no light burning here."
The eyes of their hearts were blind. Seeing, they did not see. The light of Christ is not an inference from premises. It is the brightness of God shining on the retina of the human soul. You know it's there not because you conclude it from an argument, but because you see it with the eyes of your heart.

What It Means to Be "the Light of the World"

Jesus responds to the Pharisees in verse 14: "Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going." In other words, "I came from God. I am going to God. And you don't know God. And therefore you can't see me as the light of God. Because the fact that I am from God is what it means for me to be the light of the world."
He goes on in verse 15: "You judge according to the flesh"—that is, you don't have spiritual life and so can't see the light. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. You need, like Nicodemus, to be born again (John 3:6–7). To have the light of life, you need life. But you are only flesh. Your spirit is dead.
He continues in verse 15: "I judge none"—that is, I judge no one on my own. I don't originate judgments. I echo my Father's judgments. He explains. Verses 16–18: "Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me."

When His Hour Comes—And Not Before

Verse 19: "They said to him therefore, 'Where is your Father?' Jesus answered, 'You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.'" In other words, Jesus says, "I and the Father are so united that if you knew and loved either of us, you would know and love the other."
These are explosive and dangerous claims that he is making about himself and God. So John pauses to comment in verse 20 how amazing it is that no one is stoning him or arresting him: "These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come." He will go when his hour comes, not before.

He Warns Them with Hell

Now he spells out one of the implications of their blindness. Verses 21–24: "So he said to them again, 'I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.' So the Jews said, 'Will he kill himself, since he says, "Where I am going, you cannot come"?' He said to them, 'You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am . . . [he is added] you will die in your sins.'"
When Jesus says in verse 21 that he is going away, he means going to die and rise again and go to the Father. When he says they will "die in their sins" and that they cannot follow him where he goes, he means: When they die, they do not go to the Father. He is warning them, that if they persist in their blind rejection of him as the light of the world, they will perish away from God in hell forever.

But He Offers Hope

But he offers them hope—and he offers you hope. Verse 24: "Unless you believe that I am . . . [again, he is added] you will die in your sins." Believe, and you won't. "Believe that I am—that I am from the Father. And that I and the Father are one. Open your eyes and see that I am the light of the world and receive me as your light. And you will not perish."

Jesus keeps saying it over and over in this passage—that he is from the Father and that that he speaks what the Father speaks. But things come to a climax in verse 28 where he finally tells how it is that they will eventually come face to face with what they cannot see. Verse 28: "So Jesus said to them, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [he is added].'"

See and Believe

That doesn't mean that at the crucifixion of Jesus, they all became believers. It means that you yourselves unwittingly are going to help me finish being the light of the world. You are going to lift me up. You are going to crucify me. And when I am crucified, my role as the saving, redeeming, creation-filling light of the world will be secured. And I will rise and reign and shine forever. And the day will come when you will know this. You can know now and have your sins forgiven. Or you can be the ones who crucify me, and die in your sins, and find out the truth only later when it is too late.
And so it is with you and me: We see him and receive him as the light of the world now. Or we die in our sins and see it only when it is too late. May God grant you to see and believe now.
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Sign In | Cart (Empty) | Contact | Support DG Desiring God International Home Resource Library Blog Store Events About Us Home / Resource Library / Sermons / Praying in the Closet and in the Spirit Praying in the Closet and in the Spirit January 03, 2010 | by John Piper | Scripture: Matthew 6:1-15 | Topic: Prayer Subscribe to... Watch: Full Length Listen: Full Length Excerpt Download Click To Play This is the first Sunday of our annual, year-beginning, Prayer Week. The very fact that we have such a thing as a Prayer Week raises the question I want to deal with today. But the question is much bigger than Prayer Week. The question is the relationship between discipline and freedom and spontaneity in prayer. Discipline By “discipline,” I mean planning to do certain things in regard to prayer, like… have a Prayer Week, or pray for before meals, or pray before an elders meeting, or kneel and pray in your wedding right after your vows, or at the beginning of a sermon, or early in the morning before breakfast going down in the basement nook with the space heater running, or with your spouse, just before you go to bed at night, or over the lunch hour in your cubicle, or on Tuesday and Friday mornings at church, or three times a day on your knees like Daniel (Daniel 6:10), or seven times a day like the psalmist (Psalm 119:164), or in the watches of the night (Psalm 119:148), or during and after your read your Bible in the morning. I call these “disciplines” of prayer because they don’t just pop out of you. You think about them, and decide they are a good thing to do, and then you intentionally do them. There is a certain measure of intentionality. Some people are very intentional, and we call them “disciplined.” And others are somewhat intentional. And others are not very intentional at all. And there are hundreds of gradations in between. We are all different. Freedom Alongside this, we think of “spontaneity.” Sometimes we use the word “freedom” to distinguish the difference from discipline. But I don’t want to put freedom alongside discipline because that would imply that there can’t be freedom in discipline. Which is not true. You can plan to pray in your wedding, and work out all the details down to how you will help her with her wedding dress, and hold each others’ hands, and yet, in that moment, feel an overwhelming, joyful, unfettered freedom of spirit—which means, you are doing just what you want to be doing and you are loving doing it. That’s what I mean by “freedom”—doing a good thing and loving doing it as you do it. The same is true for everyone of those disciplined acts I mentioned. In those acts of discipline, there can be wonderful freedom and joy. But it is also true that, because something is planned and we do it with some intentionality, we might also wind up doing it whether we enjoy it or not. You might be so light-headed when you kneel to pray at your wedding that you would just like for his moment to be over, and the sooner the better. This is not what we usually call “freedom.” You are not enjoying this moment, and can hardly compute what the pastor is saying. Or you might plan to pray with your roommates each night, and then have the joy go right out of the act because of tensions in the room. Or you might continue the tradition of praying before meals, and drift so far from God that the prayers become empty words, and they are done more like a machine than lover. Which would not be freedom. So I don’t put freedom alongside discipline as distinct from it. It can be wonderfully and powerfully present in any act of discipline. That’s what we long for. Spontaneity But alongside disciplined praying, like the ones I mentioned, I do put spontaneity. This is different from discipline. “Spontaneous” means that you didn’t plan it, but it rises up in your heart, and you do it without any specific earlier plan or intentionality. Something in the situation, or from the Holy Spirit, awakens the desire to pray. There is intention, but it happens in the moment spontaneously. You might… whisper a thank-you to God after a close call on the highway, or ask God for help in the middle of an exam, or confess to God your sin after saying something hurtful to a friend, or pray out in church during one of our congregational prayer times, or praise God for a beautiful sunset, or silently ask him for wisdom in the middle of a difficult phone conversation, or ask for strength when you are ready to drop and have another task to do, or pray for a missionary when you open his email and realize he needs help right now, or stop several times during an elder meeting to thank God and seek his guidance on some difficult matter facing the church. None of this is specifically planned. It is spontaneous. We tend to feel most free in our spontaneous praying, and often not as free in our disciplined, planned praying. A Swing of the Pendulum? So my question is: What does the Bible say about discipline and spontaneity and freedom in prayer? I was drawn to this topic this year because my sense is that, at least in the part of the evangelical church that I watch most closely, I think there is a swing of the pendulum from discipline to spontaneity in the name of gospel freedom. In other words, there is a concern to be gospel-driven, not discipline-driven. And this is often put in terms of legalism versus freedom. Or law versus grace. Overall, I think this way of thinking is a very good sign. If we don’t live on the gospel—that is, on the work of Christ for us on the cross—all our praying will indeed become a bondage and a stench in God’s nose. A Legalism of Resisting Discipline? On the other hand, it is possible to be a half-biblical person, and get real excited about the freedom and spontaneity of the gospel, and lose touch with the place that God has assigned to discipline, or intentionality. Our experience with God may be so shallow that the only way we have of conceiving of discipline is in terms of legalism—as though any intentionality that drives you to do a thing when you don’t feel like it can only be a work of the law, or an act of merit, or a way of earning salvation, or a strategy to get God on your side. And indeed, any act of discipline, no matter how good, may be just that. But what some fail to realize is that steadfast opposition to discipline may reflect a heart of legalism also. It is possible to turn any act or any resistance to an act into a legal performance that fails the gospel test. Which means that whether you are a person who leans toward discipline or a person who leans toward spontaneity, you are just as liable to trust in your own righteousness—your righteousness of discipline, or your righteousness of spontaneity—rather than Christ’s righteousness. The Heart of the Gospel The heart of the gospel is that Christ died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3). That is shorthand for saying that the only way to be right with God is on the basis of who Christ is and what Christ has done, not who you are and what you have done. Or another way to say the gospel is this: God’s being 100% for you is based on Christ alone, which we receive and enjoy by faith alone. You can’t get God any more on your side than he is on the basis of Christ alone received by faith alone. The biblical basis is 2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” He takes our sin. We become his righteousness. And that happens not by our doing a few righteous works—like disciplined praying or like the anti-discipline of spontaneous prayer. It happens by faith in Christ alone. As Paul says in Philippians 3:9, I want to be “found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” The Dangers of Discipline and Spontaneity So when it comes to prayer and our standing with God, discipline counts for nothing, and resistance to discipline counts for nothing, but only faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). And that faith may be expressed in love through acts of discipline, or through warning against legalistic discipline. And that faith may be compromised by turning disciplined prayer into performance to get God on your side, or by turning the warning against legalist discipline into a performance to get God on your side. The opposite of legalism is not spontaneity. And the opposite of faith is not discipline. Spontaneity may be legalistic. And discipline may be an act of faith. Praying Both in the Closet and in the Spirit So let’s let the Bible teach us about the discipline of prayer and the spontaneity and freedom of prayer. I titled this message “Praying in the Closet and in the Spirit.” And the point of the title is to say that both are good and needed. The text from Matthew 6 refers to prayer in our closet, or our inner room. The texts that refer to praying “in the Spirit” are Ephesians 6:18 and Jude 1:20. Ephesians 6:18: “Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” Jude 1:20: “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” Spontaneity in the Spirit What does it mean to pray “in the Spirit”? There is a good clue in 1 Corinthians 12:3, where Paul says, “No one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” It seems clear to me that speaking “in the Spirit” means speaking under the guidance of the Spirit, or energized and helped by the Spirit. That’s why no one can say “Jesus be accursed” when speaking “in the Spirit.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord” (and mean it) unless he is speaking “in the Spirit.” So I take it that praying “in the Spirit” means praying under the guidance and with the help and energy of the Spirit. The Spirit is shaping our prayers and helping us pray. This is the way we pray when we are living on the gospel. This is the prayer-counterpart to faith in the gospel. When we are trusting God to love us and accept us and help us for Christ’s sake alone, the Holy Spirit is at work. He moves in and through that faith. How the Gospel Leads to Spontaneous Prayer The key verse is Galatians 3:5: “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” The answer is that God supplies the Spirit by hearing with faith. That is, the Spirit moves in our lives and helps us pray and do everything else God calls us to do, not by being coerced by works, but because we are trusting God on the basis of Christ alone for this help. We don’t work our way into the Spirit. We trust God that, because of Christ—because of the blood and righteousness of Christ—the Spirit comes to help us and guide us. This is how the gospel relates to our praying in the Spirit. We don’t deserve this help from the Spirit. How do we get it? By works or by faith? Galatians 3:5 says by faith. We look to God, not as our enemy or as a frustrated father who can never be pleased, but as our Father who is 100% for us because of Christ alone. Therefore, we trust him, that because of Christ (his death and righteousness), he will give us the Spirit—and everything else we need. That is how we pray “in the Spirit.” That is what it means to be gospel-sustained. That is gospel-praying. Discipline in the Closet Now, what about praying in your closet—in your inner room? Jesus says in Matthew 6:5–6, When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Jesus says in verse 6: “Go to your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.” Now, to go to your room and shut the door requires some movement. You have to be intentional about it. To leave people and find a private place, where you won’t be heard by others, takes some effort. Jesus says this is good. Do this. This simple command stands for a hundred ways you may plan to pray or be disciplined. This is just one: Be sure to make part of your praying the private prayer where it is just you and God. Take whatever steps necessary to secure this kind of praying in your life. And if this kind of intentionality can be a fruit of the gospel, so can the other kinds that the Bible talks about. How the Gospel Leads Us to Disciplined Prayer And my point is that this intentionality—this discipline of private prayer where no one else can hear you—is indeed a fruit of the gospel. It is a fruit of faith in God’s love for us on the basis of Christ alone. You can see this in three simple ways. 1) Obeying Our Savior Gospel-based faith trusts Christ, so that if he tells us that something is good for us, we believe him and do it. We have no reason to doubt his word. He died for us to prove that he and his Father are 100% for us. So if he says go to your room and pray to the Father, we trust him—not to make him be on our side, but because he is on our side. 2) Desiring to Receive More Gospel-based faith has tasted and seen that the Lord is good and is always eager to receive as much of Christ as we can. So when he bids us go to the closet to be rewarded by our Father, we go with great expectation that he has a gift for us—more of himself. In the gospel, we have seen that not only is Christ the basis of all we need, he is the sum of all we need. Because of what we have seen in the work of Christ, we have fallen out of love with the praise of men, and now crave the surpassing value of Christ. We come to the closet to have all that God is for us in Christ. He is our reward. That’s what faith does because of the gospel. It seeks more of Christ, more of God in private prayer. It’s not what man can give that satisfies us, but the reward of God himself. That’s blood-bought, gospel faith. 3) Knowing All Our Needs Are Met Finally, because of the gospel—because Christ died for us—we know that everything we need has been purchased for us. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). “All the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20). In other words, every answer to prayer that would be good for us, Christ purchased by his blood. We did not and cannot purchase them. So when we go to our closet, we are not going to make a purchase. We are not going to negotiate. We are going because God has ordained that what Christ obtained for us, we receive by asking. Intentionality Rooted in the Gospel If you were starving, and the food of life were in a locked container, and Christ died to open the container, you would not be a legalist if you walked five miles and stood all day stood in line to receive your food with tears of expectancy and gratitude. Knowing that he had absolutely secured your food at the cost of his life would make you confident and humble and grateful, but it would not make you say, “I don’t need to stand in line. I don’t believe in such discipline.” “I’ll just wait till it spontaneously falls into my mouth.” No. There is simple discipline. Simple intentionality rooted in the gospel. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7). “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:5–6). For More of Jesus For the sake of your own soul. For the sake of your family. For the sake of his church. For the sake of your vocation. For the sake of the nations. Plan this in 2010. Be intentional about this. Because Christ died for you, and through prayer God will give you what you need—mainly more of himself. © Desiring God Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org Related Resources Ambushing Satan with Song (Sermons) Cry of Distress and Voice of Thanks (Sermons) Draw Near to the Throne of Grace with Confidence (Sermons) In the Pits with a King (Sermons) Open My Eyes That I May See (Sermons) English Email Print Related Topics: The Bible Devotional Life Fasting See list of Related Resources Highlights Essential Resources Recently Added Most Popular Resource Categories Sermons By Date By Topic By Series By Scripture By Author By Occasion By Language Conference Messages Articles Online Books Poems Biographies Seminars Interviews Study Guides Browsing Tools Language Index Topic Index Scripture Index Author Index Date Index Help Us Make it Free $ RSS Blog New Sermons Facebook Desiring God John Piper Twitter @desiringgod @johnpiper Podcasts New Sermons (audio) New Sermons (video) Email Blog (1x daily) Blog (weekly digest) Ministry News & Updates New Sermons © 2011 Desiring God | Website Support

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